Risking For a Livelihood

In its command to pay a worker on time the Torah points out that the worker is a poor man who risks his life for the employer. Our gemara describes the nature of this risk as climbing up to the top of a high tree to pick olives or dates and facing the danger of falling to his death.

This situation is certainly not a very high risk one for then it would be forbidden to endanger one's life. But even such a level of risk is permitted only for the sake of earning a livelihood.

Such is the position taken by the great halachic authority Rabbi Yechezkel Landau in his response to a question put to him whether it is permitted for a Jew to hunt wild animals as a sport. While the Torah did not forbid a Jew to take a moderate risk for the purpose of earning a livelihood – such as climbing a high tree or traveling across seas or deserts – it did not permit him to hunt for sport and face the risk of being killed by the animals he is hunting. Should the hunting be done for the purpose of livelihood, such as is done by people trading in animal skins and furs, it is permissible for the same reason that the Torah permitted the worker to risk falling from the tree.

What the Sages Say

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